Aftermath
by mystearicas
Summary: Shion remembers Safu. "I loved her, but…"  Nezumi/Shion, post-anime.


_MAJOR SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 11. I apologize if some of the facts in this story are wrong. I wrote it immediately after watching episode 11, and didn't bother going back into episodes to fact-check, so I'm really sorry if anything is off, plot-wise!  
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><p><strong>Aftermath<strong>

Two weeks later they have a funeral for Safu. It's brief and fairly lighthearted, because nothing can quite extinguish the tranquility and contentment and _relief_ after the madness of the parasite bee attack and the Correctional Facility's destruction. Of course, there are funerals all over the city, both inside and out, and with the Correction Facility's "purging" there seems to be no end to the tragedies. But there's also something else in the air besides grief; the strange, light feeling of change. And now that people have started to calm down and accept the destruction of the wall, things seem to be finally settling down.

Shion glances at the remnants of the wall—it's become an unofficial gravesite for those with no family to decide on their burial ground, and thus become covered in a variation of flowers and candles, picture frames and brass cups. There are less people to grieve here than at the graveyards within No.6 and the outskirts of the West Block, where many still want their loved ones to rest, but friends, acquaintances, and even strangers have to silently pay their respects.

The picture of Safu is a simple one. Her smile is rather indulging (Shion suspects her grandmother took it) and she's wearing that same sweater from so long ago. But she looks content, if not happy. Safu usually was, even as a temperamental child. His finger brushes the glass (the frame is his mother's, and the picture had been taken from their old photo album). The flowers, all flourishing in pots of varying sizes (two are from his mother, one donated by Rikiga, and Nezumi had provided a chipped cup from which several, small white daisies are waving healthily in dark earth). Shion had picked the flowers himself—the roses are from an abandoned shop in No.6, and the others he had picked from the West Block.

It's a colorful array, and one he's sure that Safu would have been proud of. Two candles sit unlit on either side of the photo, and Shion's fingers linger on the matches as he watches the sun sink over the remains of the wall.

Karan stands behind him, tears in her eyes and a handkerchief grasped in one hand. She had brought a scarf that Safu had left behind, and it hangs behind the display like a curtain backdrop, suspended by two pegs Nezumi had hammered into cracking concrete.

Rikiga had attended out of courtesy, holding Karan's arm in an awkwardly comforting way, a black tie around his shirt and looking unusually solemn.

The only other attendant was Nezumi. They hadn't known any of Safu's other friends, as she had spent many of her final months in No.5. The elementary school students Shion and Safu had known probably hardly remembered either of them, and Shion remembers that Safu never liked them much anyway.

There aren't any words spoken, but Nezumi sings, and that's more than enough anyway. Shion lights the candles, carefully pushing the flowers back so there's no danger of them catching fire, and watches the light dance across the frame, creating odd expressions on Safu's still face.

Shion doesn't cry, but Karan does, sobbing into Rikiga's shoulder by the time the performance is finished. He smiles, because he expects that's what Safu would have liked to see from heaven, or wherever she is now. He can see now, that what she died for was him—the destruction of the Correctional Facility and No.6 itself, the wall separating it from the West Block…all of his dreams, the ones that Nezumi had laughed and scoffed at, were fulfilled.

And he had done his grieving, during those moments in the Correctional Facility. He had lost his reason—and Safu had found it for him again, in her own way, through Elyurias's own purpose. So now, he could only smile and miss her, and wish that she could see how beautifully the sunset was, as the last rays shone over the remnants of No.6.

His thoughts are broken when something brushes his shoulder, and he looks around—Karan and Rikiga are walking into the distance already, and Nezumi is looking down at him with some concern, gray eyes almost wary as he offers a hand.

Shion takes it as he gets to his feet, bowing a little to Safu's memorial before turning back toward the West Block—Nezumi's home is still intact, and he's continued to stay there. Karan had chosen to stay with Rikiga, as there was really no more space in Nezumi's cramped apartment, although someone had yet to break the news about how Rikiga earns his money (Shion still suspects that his mother had _some _idea, as she wasn't at all as fragile or naïve as she appeared).

Night is falling swiftly; the candlelight at the many shrines for the dead dances merrily as it grew darker, and they make the long trek back to Nezumi's home. Stars are beginning to glimmer among the wisps of clouds, and a chill breeze sweeps across the barren landscape, even in the warm weather.

It seems to make Nezumi remember something, because he turns abruptly and stares at Shion, who blinks questioningly in response.

"Did you love her?" the boy asks, with his usual talent for asking questions at inopportune moments, because that's really just how Nezumi is, and Shion looks at the sky as if in thought.

The stars wink and blink into existence as the sky turns a dark blue. "I loved her," comes the quiet response. "She was my friend, and she was very precious to me. I loved her, but…" Shion looks back at Nezumi suddenly, color tinting his cheeks despite the cold night air. "I could never imagine being…intimate with her," _Not like with you_ is the unspoken addition, but Nezumi understands anyway and bites the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing out loud.

When he calms down enough to speak, the other is looking pointedly away, a rather mortified expression on his face. Nezumi tries to keep his tone and face serious. "I see. Sorry for asking a difficult question,"

Shion walks to stand beside him, still looking embarrassed, and suddenly kisses the dark-haired boy on the cheek before jumping spastically backward and hurrying away, his face positively flaming.

"What the hell was that?" comes a loud shout after him, but Shion is already too far away to hear—he can be fast when he wants to be, after all. Nezumi shakes his head and takes his time in following, grinning up at the sky as the stars twinkle cheerfully back at him.

"I wonder…what exactly did you teach him about romance, Safu?"

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_Haha, this was supposed to be kind of nostalgic Shion/Safu gen, but it took a kind of cracky Nezumi/Shion turn orz. _The whole kissing-on-the-cheek thing was supposed to be in reference to what Safu did to Shion on his twelfth birthday. And to kind of reverse Shion and Nezumi's whole "goodnight/goodbye kiss" routine, since they seem to take it pretty casually... (imakenosense) I suppose it would've been more obvious is Shion was like NEZUMI SPERM PLZ but I didn't want to make it too random lol.__

_So I was kind of blown away by the final episode. While it was rushed, as endings usually are, I think they made a good effort, although I was kind of confused on why Nezumi randomly disappeared at the end. It was good, and I can't wait for the light novel translations to catch up! _


End file.
